Former Vice President Mike Pence managed to put Donald Trump’s most rabid followers in a tizzy on Monday after he made a social media post that was, well, reasonable.
In his post, Pence thanked President Joe Biden for making “the right decision” and “putting the interests of our Nation ahead of his own” by ending his presidential campaign.
He also said Biden’s departure from the campaign and the assassination attempt on Trump suggests that it’s time for “leaders in both parties to project calm and send a message of strength and resolve to America’s friends and enemies.”
For those who didn’t really follow poltics before 2016, Pence’s post harkens back to the type of reasonable “we’re all Americans” statement that politicians would make when their rivals made their exit from public life.
But this sort of statement declined after Trump was elected president and proceeded to ignore this and other accepted political norms (such as conceding an election after you lose or attending the inauguration of the person who beat you).
As might be expected, Pence’s reasonable statement caused some of Trump’s MAGA fans to have F-bomb-filled meltdowns over his graciously thanking Biden for his service to the country.
Even a Donald Trump parody account had thoughts.
A couple people thought Pence reminded them of a well-known figure from the Bible.
Meanwhile, others tried to cross the polarized political chasm by telling the former VP they wished his fellow Republicans hadn’t tried to get him killed during the 2021 insurrection.
But some folks had a hard time processing the reasonableness of Pence’s post.
And, of course, at least one person admitted feeling schadenfreude at the reaction to Pence’s post.